Would St. John's transfer RJ Luis Jr. be a good fit at Gonzaga?

Luis kept it going in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with 22 points and five 3-pointers in a win over the 15-seed Omaha Mavericks, but he struggled against the 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks in the round of 32. He shot 3-for-17 from the field, finished with nine points and sat on the bench for the final 4:56 of the 75-66 loss.

While Rick Pitino's decision to bench his leading scorer in the team's final game of the season certainly fueled speculation about Luis' decision to transfer — which coincided with plans to enter the 2025 NBA Draft — his potential divorce from St. John's had already been simmering "for weeks" behind-the-scenes, according to CBS Sports. The benching didn't correlate directly to his transfer, according to CBS, but the rumblings grew louder after the loss to Arkansas.

Regardless, Luis is the first conference player of the year from a high-major league to enter the portal. He's expected to go through the pre-draft process before making a decision, according to CBS. The NBA Draft Combine is May 11-18 in Chicago, so it might be a few weeks before Luis makes his intentions known. For now, he's expected to command "at least $1.5 million" in NIL, per CBS.

That's quite the price tag for a team to pay for Luis, though it's backed up by the 6-foot-7 wing's improved shotmaking and versatility on the defensive end of the floor. In addition to finishing top five in the Big East in scoring, Luis was among the top 10 players nationally in defensive win shares, according to Sports-Reference.com, while snagging 1.4 steals per game. Meanwhile, St. John's is ranked No. 2 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com, only behind the Final Four-bound Duke Blue Devils at No. 1.

For the Zags, acquiring a bigger-sized wing who's versatile enough to play both the "2" and the "3" spots would go a long way in building the 2025-26 roster, especially after losing their starting backcourt of Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman, along with sixth-year guard Khalif Battle. Braeden Smith, a 6-foot-tall guard and former Patriot League Player of the Year, is set to take the reins from Nembhard at the point guard spot. But outside of the Colgate Raiders transfer and presumably Emmanuel Innocenti, who could return for his junior season, the Bulldogs are thin in the backcourt in comparison to this time a year ago.

On the perimeter, 6-foot-7 wing Steele Venters is striving toward his long-awaited Gonzaga debut after an Achilles injury derailed his 2024-25 campaign. The Eastern Washington Eagles transfer would likely compete for minutes with Jalen Warley, a 6-foot-6 Virginia Cavaliers transfer who joined the Zags earlier this season. Gonzaga's also a bit thin at the wing position with Michael Ajayi, Dusty Stromer and Jun Seok Yeo in the transfer portal.

It'd make sense for Mark Few and the staff to target a talented player who could fill potentially two areas of need for them: someone to relieve Smith in regard to ballhandling duties and a strong wing who can defend multiple positions. Luis wasn't necessarily the Johnnies' go-to playmaker, but he was adept at hunting for his shot while coming off ball screens and excelled at playing in transition. The Zags have benefited from players who have a knack for creating live-ball turnovers, and Luis is certainly one of those talents.

The feedback Luis receives from pro scouts and general managers at the NBA Draft Combine will determine whether he returns to college basketball for one more year. He has the size and ability to defend at a high level, though there are concerns about whether he currently has the skill to make the jump to the NBA level. There aren't many credible mock drafts that feature Luis getting picked in the top 60 picks on draft night, either. Perhaps another year in college — at a place known for developing NBA talent — could enhance Luis' draft stock for the 2026 draft.

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